Story Time
by GennaWeasley
Summary: BASED ON/RELATED TO CP COULTER'S DALTON! Imagine that all of us crazy Dalton fans were living in an enormous mansion, & each time a new chapter was finished, that evening was Story Time... Welcome to Warblerland.
1. Reading 26pt1

_A/N - So this was inspired by the fact that a lot of people call the brilliant CP Coulter "Mama CP". I was sitting around reading Dalton and this popped into my head. I'm having a bunch of fun writing this, even if you all don't care._

Reading 26.1

Imagine, for a moment, a really really big mansion near a lake. Each of the front doors has a looking-glass on it, and above those large double doors are the words "Welcome to Warblerland" in curly, kooky, blue letters. Docked next to the mansion is a cruise ship-sized 'gondola' – if it can even still be called that when you consider the number of people who call the gondola home. Parked in front of the main entrance was an odd collection of vehicles – including a magic carpet, an Impala, a rainbow, a tank, a carriage, a limo and others – and there was a train sitting in its station on the opposite side of the mansion from the lake. The mansion is occupied by hundreds – thousands – of people. The most important residents are "Mama" CP Coulter and her Dalton boys, without whom no one else would be there to begin with.

Every once in a while, when we've been very good, Mama tells us a story. We all gather in the great hall – the biggest room in this very large building – with sleeping bags and pillows and teddy bears, and Mama shares a new chapter of Dalton with us. We comfort each other when our favourite characters are hurt and get into giant Nerf gun fights whenever Mama stops to breathe. When she finishes telling us that night's installment of the story, everyone gets one of Kurt's magic cookies. But as soon as we're done eating our cookie, we have to brush our teeth and go to sleep. Those nights, we get to sleep in the great hall (it's rather Prisoner of Azkaban-like) and we usually stay up late talking about the new chapter and working on our own stories based on it.

Between those days, Mama CP and the boys walk around and give answers, hugs and advice to anyone who asks for them. I've often thought that Mama CP has the patience of a preschool teacher (otherwise I don't know how she'd be able to deal with all of us **and** the boys). Micah usually spends his time in the library – which, in addition to multiple well-loved copies of each Harry Potter book and the Alice books, is home to an ever-growing collection of stories written by us. Reed can often be found wandering around the gallery (which recently has grown to include a whole lot of pictures of Dwight). Other people's characters can often be found wandering around as well, often followed by their creators as their interactions with the Dalton boys are documented (and those writings are later added to the library).

A few days ago, Mama CP called us all into the great hall in the middle of the afternoon. "You've all waited a long time," she said. "And some of you have been asking for weeks when you'd get to know what happens next. I've finally finished the next chapter of Dalton!" Everyone cheered. She continued, "This chapter is quite long, though, so I'm splitting it up into three parts and you'll get to hear it over the next three nights."

We all cheered again. As soon as Mama CP was done talking, everyone went back to whatever they'd been doing before – but now no one was able to concentrate on anything. Gracey (my best friend) and I ran to the library. "I'm going to try to reread Dalton before Story Time," Gracey told me as she pulled a large binder off of the shelf.

"Gracey, are you kidding? We only have like five hours until Story Time!" I replied. "That's longer than Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix!"

"I'll try to get as far as I can, then," Gracey said.

I shrugged and grabbed an identical binder off of the shelf. We walked over to a pair of big squishy chairs and started reading.

An hour or two later, a voice asked, "What are you two reading?"

I looked up to see Merril Portman standing in front of us. "Oh, Hi Merril! We're rereading the first 25 chapters of Dalton," Gracey said.

"_Trying_ to reread the first 25 chapters of Dalton," I corrected. "I highly doubt that we'll be anywhere near finished when it's time to gather for Story Time."

"Oh, well in that case I won't keep you from reading," Merril replied. "I was just curious; you both seem so focused – like Stuarts reading a textbook."

Gracey and I both chuckled. Merril waved and said, "I'll see you later!" before walking away.

I looked over at Gracey. "I love how that's not weird at all anymore."

"What?" asked Gracey.

"Running into and interacting with the people from this," I answered, holding up the heavy binder.

Gracey and I kept reading until dinnertime, when we each found a bookmark to mark our page and left the library to eat. After dinner we returned to the library and picked up the copies of Dalton we were reading.

As I had predicted, neither of us was anywhere near finished when it was time for us to go back downstairs to the great hall. We tucked our bookmarks between the pages and put the binders back on the shelf. Then we left the library. Before we went downstairs, we stopped in our shared room and grabbed a few things. Gracey found her dolphin PillowPet, Blaine, and I picked up my teddy bear, Jerry. Then we ran down to the great hall and claimed a pair of squishy purple sleeping bags that were next to each other. Mama CP started talking not long after we arrived.

"I'm really sorry that this chapter took so long," she said.

"Stop apologizing, Mama CP!" someone close to the front interrupted.

Someone else added, "If anyone should be sorry, it's us – we're impatient."

"Yeah," agreed a third person, "you're amazing, Mama CP. Don't apologize. Please don't."

"Thank you, all of you," Mama CP said. "Quiet down, it's Story Time!" and with that, she began to tell us the first part of Dalton Chapter 26.

One thing you should know about Story Time – when Mama CP tells us the story, it isn't as if she's reading us a book. We watch it all happen (like I said, the Dalton characters live here, too) on a big screen and she's the narrator. She tells us the things that we can't see or hear from the boys.

After 26.1 was finished (while we were comforting each other – some people were quite emotional about the events of the chapter so far), Mama CP made an announcement. "Until we've finished with this chapter – that's only two or three more days – all of the Dalton characters will be staying in their wing of the mansion. You're all free to write about them, but you can't go talk to them. That part of the building is temporarily off limits, alright?" We all groaned – everyone loves hanging out with the Dalton boys. "Alright, we're going to pass around the cookies now and I'll walk around among you and give hugs to anyone who needs one. After cookies you all have to brush your teeth and lights out will be in an hour or so."

"Yes, Mama CP," chorused the crowd. Some people grumble about being told what to do by Miss CP (because they're adults or whatever), but mostly we just do what we're told – it's not like she bosses us around all the time, she just tells us to do things we need to do [like sleep].

I was practically squishing the stuffing out of Jerry, my teddy bear, and eating my cookie when Mama CP reached Gracey and I. "Don't hurt the bear," she said to me when she walked over to us.

"Mama CP, the chapter so far was brilliant, but Adam scares me," I said. Gracey nodded.

Mama CP patted me on the head comfortingly. "He scares a lot of people, it's okay."

She walked away not long after that, after all there were hundreds of people waiting semi-patiently to talk to her. Once we finished our cookies, we ran to the bathroom to brush our teeth (and even though we were there before most other people had left the great hall, we still had to wait in line) and then returned to our sleeping bags in the great hall. We talked for a while, and when someone finally called Lights Out I fell asleep immediately, hugging Jerry the teddy bear tightly. I'm pretty sure Gracey stayed up talking to people much later, though – I think she's nocturnal. Actually, I think a lot of these people are, but I can't be sure. I'm usually asleep at night.

_A/N - HEY! INSTEAD OF MY SEMI-FREQUENT PLEAS FOR REVIEWS, THIS TIME I HAVE SOMETHING ELSE TO SAY IN MY CLOSING AUTHOR'S NOTE. **IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE A PART OF THIS STORY **(and really, who wouldn't? this imagined world is pretty awesome) **REVIEW, OR SEND ME A MESSAGE EITHER HERE OR ON TUMBLR WITH YOUR NAME (AND IF YOU WANT TO INTERACT WITH A DALTON CHARACTER, THAT PERSON'S NAME AND A REQUEST TO BE AT LEAST MENTIONED AS HAVING A CONVERSATION WITH THEM).**_

_Hopefully you've enjoyed this story so far and will read the next few chapters!_


	2. Reading 26pt2

_A/N - I'm so glad you guys are enjoying this story! HEY CASSIDY, KATHERINE, GRACE, DANNY, DARCY, MOLLY & SYAZ, **YOU'RE IN THIS CHAPTER!** Look for yourselves! Tell me what you think of how I'm writing you (it's tough because I only know what you guys told me about yourselves)._

_Oh, and Gracey? Remember the cookie-brownie hybrid semi-failure? That's mentioned in here, too._

Reading 26.2

The next morning, I woke up at around 7:45. Gracey (and a lot of other nocturnal people) was still asleep, so I stood up quietly and left the great hall. Since I knew I'd be back there tonight, I left Jerry the teddy bear on my sleeping bag. I wandered to the gallery – I didn't feel like reading Dalton yet – and found it mostly empty. Sitting on a bench was a girl that I usually saw hanging around with Reed Van Kamp. "Hi Cassidy!" I said.

"Hi Finn," she replied.

I looked around. "Where's Reed?"

"Probably in his room," Cassidy answered. "We're not allowed to talk to them until we finish Chapter 26, though, so I really wouldn't know."

"Oh, right," I said. "That's going to be kind of weird. I've gotten used to seeing them around."

"Yeah," replied Cassidy. "I've been spending a lot of time with Reed lately, so it'll be _extra_ strange."

I nodded. "Well even if we can't talk to them, we can still write about them or draw them or whatever else people do," I said. "I'm going to go upstairs and find my Dalton notebook – I feel like writing."

"Okay," Cassidy replied. "I'll see you later, Finn!"

I waved and walked out of the gallery. I walked up the stairs and to the room I share with Gracey. Sitting on the desk was a blue notebook with a diagonal stripe of gold and the words "DALTON STORIES" on the front. I flipped to a half-finished page and grabbed a pen. Jenna and Jamie (two characters I often use in my Dalton stories) stuck their heads into the room.

"Hey Finnie!" they said simultaneously.

"Are you writing about us?" asked Jenna. I nodded.

"Are you writing about the Tweedles, too?" Jamie asked. I nodded again.

"Where are they, anyway?" they both asked simultaneously.

I shrugged. "Somewhere in the Dalton characters' wing of the mansion, I assume."

"Why are they there?"

"Don't they usually like to talk to the 'talking flowers' that live over here?"

"What's going on, Finnie?"

"Can't they –"

"Okay you both need to stop talking so I can respond," I interrupted. "Were you listening at all to Mama CP's announcement after the last chapter?"

The twins shook their heads. "Nope!" they said in unison.

"Until we're done with Chapter 26, none of the Dalton characters are allowed out of their wing of the building, and we're not allowed over there either," I informed them.

"Aw," the girls replied disappointedly. "Why'd Miss CP have to say that?"

I shrugged. "Why don't you guys go find something to do?" I suggested. "You can hang out with Evan and Ethan in a few days."

"Okay!" they responded. Then they ran off (and from the sound of it, ran into someone).

I closed the notebook, grabbed a pen and left the room. I decided to go to the library and either continue to try to reread Dalton or read one of the thousands of other stories on the shelves. Sitting on a big squishy couch was a girl named Katherine (not Katherine from Dobry – she was probably somewhere in the Characters' Wing with David - just one of us fans). She was reading.

"What're you reading, Katherine?" I asked, popping up behind her.

She held up the book so I could see the cover. "Double Trouble," I read, "A book of short stories about Evan and Ethan Brightman."

"Yup," she said. "So what did you think of the first part of Chapter 26?"

"Adam scares me," I answered. "A lot."

"I don't blame you," Katherine replied. I walked to the shelf behind the couch and grabbed the copy of Dalton that I'd been reading the evening before. I sat down on the other end of the couch that Katherine was sitting on and started to read.

A few hours later, as I was getting closer to the end, Gracey and Grace (a friend of ours) walked into the library, talking energetically.

"He definitely puts something in those cookies, Gracey, they're amazing!" Grace said.

Gracey nodded. Then she looked at me before saying, "Imagine how awesome those cookie-brownie things would be if Kurt made them using his chocolate chip cookie recipe!"

"If they didn't turn out completely liquid-ey in the middle," I added. She and I burst out laughing. Katherine and Grace looked kind of confused, so Gracey and I tried to explain (while still laughing) about this one time when we tried to make a cookie-brownie hybrid and they just would not cook all the way through.

"Why didn't you guys just cook them for longer?" asked Grace.

"We did. They were in the oven for like 45 minutes and were still liquid in the middle," I answered.

"Eventually we kind of just gave up," added Gracey.

Katherine clearly decided that it was best not to point out how pathetic Gracey and I must be to have failed that spectacularly and changed the subject. "Does anyone want to go to lunch now?"

I nodded and both Graces said, "Yes!" so the four of us walked to the dining hall together. We sat down at a table that was already occupied by Cassidy and a pair of friends named Danny and Darcy. "Are you guys excited about the next part of the chapter?" Cassidy asked.

Grace nodded. Gracey said, "Yes!" Danny and Darcy both said, "Yup." Katherine grinned. I said (not for the first time), "Sort of. Adam freaks me out and I'm really worried about Jules, but otherwise of course I'm excited!"

"I bet there's going to be some Rane development in this chapter," Danny said excitedly.

I rolled my eyes. "You've been saying that since Shane was introduced!"

"But maybe she's right this time!" argued Darcy. "After all, there was stuff in the preview about Reed and Micah talking –"

"That doesn't mean that Reed and _Shane_ are going to move forwards," interrupted Katherine.

"Yes it does!" Darcy and Danny exclaimed in unison.

Our conversations carried on in this manner all through lunch and throughout the afternoon. At one point we ran into Mama CP in the hall and asked who was right, but she refused to tell us. "Be patient," she told us.

That night, everyone yet again gathered in the great hall. Our little group went their separate ways to the sleeping bags they had been occupying the previous night. We were there a little bit early, so we started talking to two of the people near us.

"I'm Syaz," one of them said. "Have we met before?"

"No, I don't think so," I replied. "I'm Finnie and this is Gracey."

"My name's Molly," the other person informed us. "So how did you guys kill time today?"

"We talked about what we expected to happen in the next chapter for most of the afternoon," Gracey replied.

"And while Gracey and Grace were sleeping in, I was reading in the morning," I added. "How about you guys?"

"Well I was _supposed_ to hang out with Dwight today, but obviously that didn't happen," Molly said. "It was kind of disappointing, really. I ended up reading, mostly."

"I know how you feel," replied Syaz."Julian and I had made plans to get coffee together today, but he spent today in the Characters' Wing with the others."

"Jenna and Jamie – a set of identical twin girl characters of mine – were complaining about the same thing this morning. It's as if they didn't see Evan and Ethan yesterday!" I informed them.

Mama CP stood up and started talking, then. She told us a little bit about this part of the chapter and then launched into the story.

In all honesty, Reed and Micah's conversation had me in tears. I can't really explain why, but it did. And frankly, Logan, Derek and Julian's scene right afterwards did not help.

After Reed and Shane talked, sang and **KISSED**, there was a loud cheer. Darcy and Danny, who I could see about 50 feet from us, screamed in excitement.

Logan's hallucination had everyone laughing hysterically (especially because we could see it as he was seeing it, and it was really amusing)… except when we were thinking about how messed up Adam is for causing it. Every time he referenced or quoted Alice in Wonderland, I smiled so much my face hurt.

Have I mentioned before that Adam terrifies me?

Windsor's talk of parents (AND RANE) and Stuart's insistence that coffee would help Logan had us all laughing again – except for the part about the Anderson boys' parents. We were less than excited about that.

And it took everything I had to stop myself from shouting, "NO, JUSTIN! LISTEN TO LAURA!" right at the end. Really. Adam scares me. I've pretty much always avoided him in the halls and as Chapter 26 goes on I'm getting more and more terrified of Julian's creepy Logan-attacking stalker.

Then cookies were passed out and Mama CP walked around giving hugs.

That night, I dreamed of Wonderland.

_A/N- As you may have figured out based on the opening Author's Note, everyone who appeared in this story that isn't Mama CP and doesn't belong to her (or me) and isn't Gracey or me REVIEWED THE FIRST CHAPTER AND ASKED TO BE INCLUDED. Do you know what that means? If you send me a message or review with a request to be included, **You'll be included, too!** I'm trying to include everyone who asks, so don't hesitate to request to be a part of this world! Include your name and anything else you feel would be helpful (like a request for to talk to a specific character or do a specific activity). If you read the last chapter's closing Author's Note, you've heard all this before._


	3. Mental Prep and Reading 26pt3

_A/N - Soooo... Part 3 of chapter 26 makes me cry. But for you, my readers, I reread it so that I could write this chapter accurately. Take that as an 'I LOVE YOU GUYS', okay? The reaction I described at the end of this is my real reaction to 26.3_

_Also making an appearance in this chapter are some non-Daltonite friends of mine (and someone who doesn't exist - that's Elise's girlfriend. she's not real)!_

Our Mental Preparation Day & Reading 26.3

In the morning, Mama CP told us that she was postponing the final part for a day so that she could put some finishing touches on it. The few of us who were actually awake responded to this announcement with disappointment.

"Take the time to mentally prepare yourselves," she suggested. "You're going to need it – part 3 is intense."

"Okay, Mama CP," we said sleepily.

I kicked Gracey, who was still asleep. "Gracey, wake up," I ordered.

"What?" she replied. I could tell that she wasn't fully awake – or really anywhere near that.

"Mama CP says there's going to be an extra day before the next part of the chapter. She told us to mentally prepare ourselves," I said. "…that worries me. Why don't we wake up some of the others and go somewhere today?"

"In an hour," said Gracey. She rolled over and was clearly planning to go back to sleep.

I kicked her again. "No," I replied. "I can't go back to sleep now! You can have the ten minutes that it'll take me to find and wake up the others." I stood up and walked to where I'd seen Danny and Darcy sitting the night before. They were both still asleep. I dropped Jerry on Darcy's head and kicked Danny. "Wake up!"

Danny groaned and rolled over. Darcy pushed the teddy bear off of her face. I sat down on the floor between them and poked both of them. "Come on, guys, wake up!" I repeated. "We have an extra day before part three and I want to go out somewhere. And you're coming, too."

"Fine," Danny said.

Darcy sat up and handed me Jerry. "We'll be ready to go in half an hour, Finn."

I jumped up as Darcy started trying to convince Danny to get ready to leave. Then I went to find Cassidy, Katherine and Grace.

Once I'd woken them up and told them our plan, I walked back to where Gracey was sitting and talking to Molly and Syaz. "Guys, get up and all that jazz! The others are going to meet us by the main doors in like twenty minutes."

The three of them stood up, grabbing whatever stuffed animal they'd brought downstairs to sleep with. Gracey and I walked to our room and found Dalton-ey things to wear. I placed Jerry the bear on my bed carefully after straightening his Warblers t-shirt. Then I put on my Ravenclaw headband and Gracey and I ran to the main entrance.

We walked to everyone's favourite coffee shop – the Lima Bean, what else? – and ordered. I didn't actually get coffee; I got hot chocolate and a giant triple chocolate brownie. We sat down at a big table in the middle of the room. I was only half engaged in the conversation, because I was listening to Starkid songs on my phone.

Then Cassidy told us that last night after Story Time she was listening to some song and wrote new lyrics about Rane being canon for it. Immediately after this declaration, she started singing.

_Don't call me a dork!  
>Imma Rane fan!<br>Happy now, that they're together, finally now we're pleased.  
>Spanning all around the world, with a nice fan base.<br>Full of Klutz's and Dancers!  
>Yup that's Rane.<em>

_R.A.N.E IS. . I'ts about time._

_R.A.N.E IS CANON_  
><em>R.A.N.E IS CANON<em>  
><em>R.A.N.E IS CANON<em>  
><em>R.A.N.E IS CANON YEAH!<em>  
><em>R.A.N.E IS CANON<em>  
><em>R.A.N.E IS CANON<em>

_Rane is canon._  
><em>Thank You, Mama CP<em>  
><em>It's my favorite pairing ever, for Glee<em>

_Past was Klaine_  
><em>Jogan's next<em>  
><em>Do you think it's not real?<em>  
><em>Dalton, it's the future Fools!<em>

_Reading fiction all day._  
><em>Write it, all night.<em>  
><em>They finally kissed right, before our eyes.<em>

_Update Your fan-page! shout it all around ya!_  
><em>and Write it on the cap, of your snapple<em>

_R.A.N.E IS CANON_  
><em>R.A.N.E IS CANON<em>  
><em>R.A.N.E IS CANON<em>  
><em>R.A.N.E IS CANON<em>  
><em>R.A.N.E IS CANON<em>  
><em>R.A.N.E IS CANON<em>  
><em>R.A.N.E IS CANON<em>  
><em>R.A.N.E IS CANON!<em>

As she finished singing, I realized that sitting in the coffee shop near us were several friends of mine who weren't members of the Coult. When I realized who one of them was, I determinedly looked in the opposite direction and saw my friend Elise and her girlfriend, Rosalinda, walking over to us.

"Hi Finnie! Hi Gracey!" Elise said.

Gracey started having a conversation with Elise. I just waved vaguely and stared into space. I think that Gracey introduced Elise to everyone, but like I said, I was a little spacey.

Not long after that, Elise and Rosalinda walked away. My other non-Daltonite friends stood up to leave the coffee shop. As they passed us, they noticed Gracey and I.

"Gracey, Finley, hi!" said one, a pretty girl with short dark hair and dark brown eyes.

"Hi Bridget!" replied Gracey. I paused the song I was listening to and waved.

The other girl, Megan, said,"Do I not get a greeting?"

"Hi Megan!" I said.

"Who are all of these people?" asked Bridget.

"Cassidy, Danny, Darcy, Katherine, Grace, Molly and Syaz," Gracey answered, pointing to each person as she said their name. "They live with us in Warblerland. You know, that enormous mansion a few blocks away?"

Megan replied, "Yeah, I know what you're talking about. I didn't know you two live there."

I smiled. "Well we do. It's really nice, but we're spending today away from Warblerland. Mommy CP told us we should mentally prepare for tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" repeated Bridget.

"She, uh, promised to tell us a really scary story tomorrow night," I explained.

"Um, who is she?" asked Megan.

All of us looked at each other. How do you explain Mama CP to people who aren't familiar with Dalton?

Katherine was the one who finally found something to say. "She's a writer. She's writing this amazing story called Dalton. But Dalton is more than just a story. The boys are real, they live in Warblerland with us. Unfortunately, though, what happens next within the story is intense and emotional and no matter how much time Mama CP gives us to prepare ourselves, it'll probably still be too much for most of us."

"Oh," Megan and Bridget said.

"Adam terrifies me," I said quietly to Molly.

"We should get going," Megan said to Bridget.

"It was nice seeing you guys," Bridget told me and Gracey.

"'Bye, Bridget! 'Bye, Megan!" Gracey replied.

I waved and said, "Toodles!"

I smiled as Bridget and Megan walked away. Gracey and the others returned to their conversation from before and I pressed play on my phone.

"Finnie, you look like Julian did the other day after singing with Logan," Syaz told me.

I blushed and said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

We wandered around town that day. The others bothered me about Bridget a bit (led by Gracey), but I did my very best to ignore it.

That night everyone slept in their own rooms and slept in the next morning (at least, _I_ slept in the next morning – I was pretty sure I wouldn't sleep well after Story Time).

The next day was a blur, and before I knew it, Gracey and I were claiming squishy purple sleeping bags in the middle of the great hall. We were surrounded by the people we'd spent the last two days with, as well as two other girls named Sydney and Danni.

Before starting the chapter, Mama CP said, "I have to warn you guys, there are some pretty intense scenes in here, including some violence." Then she launched into part 3.

The description of Han's parents made everyone laugh. Shane acting all jealous got a laugh as well.

When Blaine, Shane and their parents (and Kurt and Mr. Hummel) were talking, the entire hall was silent, as if we were all holding our breath.

Dwight's "distraction" got cheers (well, more like screams) from a whole lot of people. Sydney was flailing throughout the whole thing and pretty much died at the end.

When Reed was attacked by Adam, the entire hall gasped.

Adam's room was greeted by shock and disgust and yet more fear – Have I mentioned before how much Adam scares me?

Dwight falling out the window was what started the tears. I started crying the moment I saw him fall. But Danni's response was a little more extreme – she screamed and buried her face in her pillow.

The twins' performance did not help me to stop crying, although at that point the tears were mostly a reaction to the sweetness and cuteness of their "singing" to their Audrey.

Then Adam caught Kurt, which was frightening. The whole scene was really scary… **Adam** is really scary.

Logan's demand for a "sleepy time song" made me laugh, but Julian's singing (and the fact that he used it as his good-bye) made me cry even more.

AND THEN ADAM SHOWED UP. HAVE I MENTIONED RECENTLY HOW TERRIFIED I AM OF ADAM?

Logan finally coming to his senses just a few minutes too late… frankly it reminded me of how in Romeo and Juliet, Juliet woke up just moments too late to stop Romeo from killing himself.

Danny Abbot's injury got a scream from Danni, among others.

Fire scares me enough in real life, but in Dalton when it's paired up with Adam as a threat to the lives of characters who are important to me… Let's just say that if Jerry was a real person, he would've suffocated.

Julian's confession got varied responses – screams, sobs, shouts – but everyone reacted.

And the final explosion… well, I screamed.

Mama CP declared that everyone deserved an extra cookie tonight, before starting to walk around the room to talk to everyone.

When she reached us, my cookies sat untouched on a napkin (guarded by Jerry) and I was hugging my knees and crying quietly. Gracey had buried her face in Blaine the dolphin PillowPet. Katherine was staring into space numbly. Danny and Darcy were hugging and crying.

Mama CP gave each of us a hug.

That night, as I predicted, no one slept well.

_A/N - THE BOYS ARE BACK IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! (Yeah, I'm going to keep writing! I might've finished with us reading chapter 26, but has Mommy CP finished Dalton? NO! Until chapter 27 is published, I'll write a few chapters of day-to-day life in Warblerland._

_Credit for the fantastically amusing replacement lyrics to a song that I canNOT remember the name of for the life of me go to the real life Cassidy. =)  
><em>

_So I close with the same message as always, **if you want to be in the story, tell me! I'll happily write you into this wonderful world!**_


	4. Open Mic Night

_A/N - Aaaah! This is my most popular story **ever**! Oh My Coulter, this is such a huge deal to me! I LOVE YOU ALL. Also a few quick messages to people I have otherwise been unable to reply to:_

_weslippedaway - I've been considering including her since I started writing, I'm just trying to find a good place to put her._

_Ticklemedoughface15 - Alison, I'm glad you think so much of the world I've put us all in. =) Really._

_Julia - Wow. I canNOT believe that you actually said that. *big hug* HEY LOOK YOU'RE IN THE CHAPTER!_

_Sausageeggsandapplesauce_ - _If you draw art based on this I might die a little bit of happiness/excitement_.

Open Mic Night

The next day, the boys were allowed to talk to us again. Dwight was mobbed by girls the moment he left his room. Julian had quite the crowd around him, too, although both managed to send notes to anyone they'd had plans with in the previous days requesting to reschedule. Gracey was in Han's room pretty early on in the day – they have a lot in common, apparently.

I was sitting in one of several music rooms, working on a song for an upcoming event (some singing thing – I don't remember the official title). Bailey Tipton wandered into the room while I was singing. Actually, when he found me I wasn't singing the song I'm planning to sing for that event I mentioned. I was singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow while staring out the window at a rainbow I had noticed while working on Sami by Darren Criss – which is what I was _supposed_ to be practicing.

"You're not that bad," he commented when I finished singing.

I turned around from the window. "Uh, thanks?"

"Are you singing that for Open Mic Night?" asked Bailey.

"No," I replied. "I'm just easily distracted." I pointed out the window.

"Well are you planning to sing?" Bailey said.

"Yup! I'm singing a Darren Criss song – Sami," I answered.

Just then, Sydney and Dwight walked by the room. "Dwight! COME ON YOU'RE SO GOOD!"

"I WILL NOT. NEVER AGAIN! **NEVER!**"

"But DWIGHT –"

"I will **not** sing at the open mic night!"

"Please! If you'll sing, I'll sing."

"But I won't sing, so I guess that saves _you_ the embarrassment of singing as well."

I stuck my head out the door. "Hey, Knight!"

Dwight turned around. "What?"

"You're a pretty good singer, Knight," I said. "Maybe you should consider listening to S-"

"NO!" shouted Dwight.

I laughed and walked back into the music room. Bailey offered to play guitar for me while I sang – an offer that I happily accepted.

We spent hours working on the song. Over the course of the day, a lot of people ran past the door (including Danny and Darcy, who were apparently following Reed around all day and talking to him about Shane and that KISS, and obviously Reed [who they were following around]), usually talking loudly.

"I think you're ready for Friday," Bailey informed me.

"I'd be slightly worried if I wasn't, after all this work," I replied. "Will you play for me on Friday? I like the way you play the song better than the instrumental track I have."

"Of course," he answered.

That Friday came really quickly. Before too long, I was sitting on the floor in the great hall with Gracey, Katherine, Danny, Darcy and the others, watching people sing. Nearby, I could see Cassidy and her friend Lucy (she's new here). In all honesty, I was a little nervous – this is a really big group of people and I'm singing in front of people who are way better singers than me.

And then it was my turn. I stood up and walked to the small stage in the front of the room. Bailey, who was already waiting onstage for me, smiled reassuringly. When I reached the mic, he started to play and I started to sing.

_I've seen her face, I've heard her name  
>I've lost my place and she's to blame.<br>And I can't stand it when I'm staring in her eyes,  
>And she's not looking back<br>It ain't a big surprise_

I couldn't look up. I was staring at the one spot on the floor that wasn't occupied by members of the Coult.

_I've heard music, I've heard noise  
>I wish that she could hear her voice<br>The way that I do, when I go to sleep at night_  
><em>And dream my life away<em>  
><em>But she's gone when I awake<em>

_Sami_  
><em>Sami<em>  
><em>Why can't you see<em>  
><em>What you're doing to me<em>

That was when I finally made eye contact with my audience. Alison and Julia, two girls I had just met earlier that week, waved to me.

_The way her hair falls in her eyes, makes me wonder if_  
><em>She'll ever see through my disguise, I'm under her spell<em>  
><em>Everything is fallin', I don't know where to land<em>  
><em>Everyone knows who she is<em>  
><em>But she don't know who I am<em>

_Sami_  
><em>Sami<em>  
><em>Why can't you see<em>  
><em>What you're doing to me<em>

This time I looked over at Gracey and the others. They waved and I smiled at them.

_I've seen you singin' on that stage,_  
><em>Looking like an angel and all I do is pray (that maybe)<em>  
><em>One day you'll hear my song and understand that all along<em>  
><em>There's something more that I'm trying to say, when I say<em>

_Sami_  
><em>Sami<em>  
><em>Why can't you see<em>  
><em>What you're doing to me (what you're doing to me)<em>

_Sami_  
><em>Ooh when I say<em>  
><em>Sami<em>  
><em>When I say<em>  
><em>Why can't you see<em>  
><em>What you're doing to me<em>  
><em>What you're doing to me<em>

When I finished, I thanked Bailey and left the stage quickly. As I walked to my friends, I passed Alison and Julia, who were sitting with Logan Wright and talking about something quietly. Another small group of people (Alex, Kitty and Jess) were talking to Reed and Julian, but stopped talking, smiled and waved at me when I walked by. I reached Gracey and the others and Gracey grabbed my arm and pulled me to the ground next to her and she hugged me tightly.

"'Dee… I can't breathe," I said.

Gracey released me. "It was so cute, Finn! You should sing that to her someday."

"How about no," I replied.

Suddenly there was a person between Gracey and I, and someone on my other side as well.

"You were very good, little singing flower," one of the Brightman boys told me.

I started to say, "Am I really that little?" But I was interrupted by his twin.

"Yes. So why'd you pick that song?"

"Someone special in mind?"

I nodded slowly.

"Well that's cute," both boys said simultaneously.

The first one – Ethan, I think – said, "Do we know her?"

I shook my head.

The other – I'm assuming Evan – said, "You should invite her here sometime."

"We're sure everyone would like to meet her."

"Because that was a Logan –"

" or Blaine-worthy amount of emotion."

"You were practically crying."

"You've still got tears in your eyes."

I wiped the tears away before saying, "Oh, leave me alone, won't you?" I said. "Go make out with Jen and Jamie or something!"

"Okay," they said in unison. Then they hugged me and walked away.

Gracey chuckled. "I will never get tired of that."

I rolled my eyes and punched her shoulder lightly. "Shut up, Gracey."

_A/N - I sound like I'm complimenting my own singing in this chapter, don't I? I was going off of things I've heard from other people before, really! I'm not trying to sound self-centered or anything! (Some of you follow me on Tumblr. Look there for a recording of me singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow, as well as one of me singing Sami [although that one's a little more buried, I'm posting Somewhere Over the Rainbow today].)  
><em>

_Also- FUN WITH THE TWEEDLES! =) _

_At this point, you know the drill: review if you want to be a part of the story and I'll gladly include you. _


	5. Killing Time

_A/N - Yaaay filler chapter! Here's the thing - I really just needed a way to set up for a big Warblerland birthday party in the next chapter, plus I didn't want to make you guys wait too long. There'll be non-Coult people there interacting with the Dalton boys... I'm really excited to write that, I think it'll be fun. But you may be wondering **why** I'm planning to write a Warblerland birthday party. There's a simple answer for that - my birthday fast approaches! And I want to celebrate it with you guys. Plus doesn't the idea of a party in Warblerland amuse you guys?_

Killing Time

"Less than a month from now," I said.

"Already?" replied Gracey. "I hadn't realized it was so soon."

"I didn't either. But then I looked at the calendar," I told her.

"What's soon?" asked Grace.

I grinned. "My birthday."

"Well merry unbirthday to you," Grace replied. "How are you planning to celebrate?"

"I'm thinking a gathering," I told the Graces.

"Are you going to invite those girls we met at the coffee shop the other day?" Grace asked.

I blushed. "Maybe," I answered. "Elise definitely… Bridget I'm not so sure about."

"I'm sure the others would like to meet her," Gracey said.

"Is this that girl she was singing to at Open Mic Night?" asked Lucy, who was walking by with Cassidy.

"Yup," both Graces answered.

Cassidy said, "They're right, Finnie!"

I rolled my eyes. "Maybe," I repeated.

Later that afternoon, Gracey and I decided to bake something (we do that a lot). We walked to the kitchen and found Kurt, Merril and a girl named Kailyn cooking up a storm. Kailyn's friend Desirae was sitting at a small table and eating cookies with Shane Anderson.

We were trying to decide what to make when a girl named Gayle went running by the door, chased by the Tweedles and a girl named Jocelyn and being shot at with Nerf guns. They were followed by Syaz, who stuck her head into the kitchen.

"Finn, Jules finally escaped the overprotective crowd of girls who have been following him around since 26.3 was released," she informed me.

"So are we going out now?" I asked. She nodded. I hugged Gracey and said, "TTFN, 'Dee!" before walking out the door with Syaz.

As we walked toward the main doors (the place where the 'affectionately' nicknamed "Let's-just-blame-the-freaking-Squid" club usually meets up before going places), we passed by a girl named Konnor having an enthusiastic conversation with Dwight, a pair of girls named Brielle and Briana talking (I don't know about what, I was too distracted by their names), and a girl named Carrie discussing plans for some experiment with Drew and Satoru.

Kitty, Julia, Callie, Lexie and Julian were waiting for us by the doors. Jules was wearing his sunglasses, as usual. "Shall we leave?" he said once Syaz and I reached the others.

Julia opened the door and we all walked to the Lima Bean. While we were waiting in line to order, Lexie noticed Logan sitting at one of the tables with a girl whose name is Emily, I think. She pointed this out to the rest of us and we quickly decided to find something else to do for the afternoon. We walked to a nearby park and sat down on some benches. We talked about Logan (and Julian received several attack-hugs – "Guys. I'm injured. Release… I'm serious. Let go.") and we talked about the "Logans" in some of the rest of our lives (when I mentioned Bridget, Julia flailed and babbled about open mic night). Kitty was saying something when I spotted She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named – that is _actually_ something my friends and I call her on occasion, it goes with the nickname 'Voldemort' – walking through the park. I dove into the middle of our little group and hid behind Callie. You-Know-Who spotted me anyway, though. She and Ellie, another non-Daltonite, walked over to us.

"Hi Master…" I said from behind Callie. "Hi Michellephant."

"Hi Finn," You-Know-Who said.

I finally decided that since she'd already seen me, hiding behind Callie was kind of pointless. So I moved back a foot or two and leaned against Julian's legs (he was sitting on the bench behind me, so I decided to use him like the back of a chair). "How's your today?"

"Alright," Ellie replied.

"We were just catching up," Voldemort added.

"Cool," I said. To the others, I added, "Guys, meet Bridget and Ellie."

Lexie gasped a little bit. "Like, the Bridget that –"

I hit her. Not hard, but just enough to shut her up. "Yes, Lexie. She's _that_ Bridget. So shut up."

"Huh?" Bridget said.

Julian kicked me. "Finn, get off. I'm injured."

"I'm confused," Ellie declared.

"Master, Ellie, meet Callie, Lexie, Kitty, Syaz, Julia and Julian," I said, pointing to each person as I mentioned their name. "They'll be at the party. I assume you'll be there, too."

Julian kicked me again. He adjusted his sunglasses before saying, "Stop assuming things, kid. How do you know I'll be there?"

I looked up at him. "Jules, I know because you told me. And don't call me 'kid'."

"It's nice to meet you," Bridget said.

"You are going to be at the party, right Master?" I asked – after all, Julian has a point.

"Of course," she replied.

I grinned. The others (not Julian though) all chuckled a bit. Ellie and Bridget looked a bit confused, but I wasn't about to explain it to them.

Later in the evening, we were on our way back to Warblerland and ran into Miss Jay and Dwight – or rather, we saw them walking through the park together and made a detour so we could bother them both about it. We were just beginning to be bothersome when Evan and Ethan Brightman appeared pretty much out of nowhere in that way that they do sometimes and started shooting us all with Nerf guns. It quickly became a huge epic Nerf battle that absorbed every Daltonite in the park in about 15 seconds. We all went running back towards Warblerland – only stopping to point out how adorable it was to see Shane catch Reed when he tripped over his feet.

Once we returned to Warblerland, our epic Nerf battle pulled in even more people. I don't think anyone got to sleep until 1am, because even if they weren't participating they had to hear us (we were a little on the loud side – are you surprised?).

_A/N- At this point I'd be surprised if you haven't figured this out, but if you guys want to be in this story (especially if you want to be a part of the party in the next chapter. It's going to at least start out as an Alice-themed tea party) review! Tell me that you're interested and I'll put you into the story! _

_Hey Callie, Lexie, Kitty, Syaz and Julia - you all asked to hang out with Julian, so the Blame the Squid Club was my inventive way of doing that. =D  
><em>

_Oh, and one more thing I want to tell you guys 'cause of all the love this story is getting. I LOVE YOU ALL._


	6. Party Time!

_A/N - This chapter is a bit premature, since it's set on the 9th, 10th and 12th of September, but I care not. I like this chapter - it's my birthday party, after all! Also, it's safe to assume that if your name has been previously mentioned within the story - even if it isn't mentioned specifically in THIS chapter, you're at the party. _

_My birthday really is on the 12th, and I wanted to celebrate with you guys best I could. *big hug* You're all awesome._

Party Time

The morning of the 9th was lovely. When I woke up and realized I didn't have to learn I rolled over and fell back asleep. At around 10 my alarm went off and I wandered downstairs to the kitchen in my pajamas.

"Happy almost birthday, Kid," I heard a familiar voice say.

Without turning around I said, "Don't call me kid, Jules. You couldn't wait until Monday to wish me a happy birthday?"

"I s'pose not," Julian said. "Who knows, I might be out of town on Monday?"

"I do hope you're not," I replied. I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the kitchen with me. Gracey was supposed to meet me there to make cupcakes for the party later around noon. Kurt had promised to make chocolate chip cookies for tea, and he was already baking when I dragged Julian into the kitchen.

"Happy unbirthday, Flower," Kurt said happily.

I laughed. "I think Evan and Ethan are starting to rub off on you, Alice."

"I don't know if that's good," replied Kurt.

I ran over to him and hugged him – being careful not to hurt him since he was still injured from Hell Night. "Of course it's good, Alice." I stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks for making cookies for tea."

"No problem, little flower," Kurt answered.

"You mustn't be late for tea, Alice," a boy's voice said.

An identical voice added, "There'll be sweets and tea and Nerf guns!"

I turned around to see the two tall blond boys now standing on either side of Julian. "Are you even going to _try_ to be even a little bit normal when my other friends are here?"

"No," they responded in unison. I laughed. One of them continued, "We're in here for a reason, little flower."

"And that reason is?" I prompted.

"There's another talking flower in the main hall looking for you," the second Tweedle responded.

"She's not from here," added the first one.

I grinned. "Is she blonde? My height? Quite possibly singing?"

"Well she's not singing," Evan (I think) replied.

Ethan (assuming I was right about Evan) added, "But she's short like you and blonde."

"I'm not short!" I exclaimed. "I'm average height!"

Julian (who is several inches taller than me) chuckled. Kurt (also several inches taller than me) said, "You're a little short."

I rolled my eyes and moved past the boys. As the Tweedles had told me, my friend Julianna was waiting near the main doors. I'd invited her to help make cupcakes, because I knew Gracey would want to sleep in. I led Julianna to the kitchen, where Kurt was still baking and Julian was leaning against the wall and reading lazily.

"Guys, meet Julianna. JJ, meet Julian and Kurt," I said.

Julianna nodded to each of them. "It's nice to meet you."

"JJ's here to help me make cupcakes."

"I thought Gracey was helping you with that," Julian commented.

I rolled my eyes. "Gracey's still asleep, Jules."

Julian chuckled. "I shouldn't be surprised."

Julianna and I started working on baking cupcakes. We ran out of cupcake papers halfway through and had to make several trays of "naked cupcakes" as Julianna called them. You'd think in a building filled with over a thousand people, we'd have more cupcake wrappers. Now I think about it, maybe we could've gone over to the Gondola and asked if they have cupcake wrappers… at the time it didn't occur to me.

Gracey wandered into the kitchen an hour or two after Julianna got there, while we were playing Go Fish with Julian and Kurt – no joke, we were really playing Go Fish. She helped us frost cupcakes and before long we were waiting in the great hall (which had been decked out in Wonderland-themed decorations by Evan and Ethan) for the non-Daltonite guests. There were several tables set with mismatched tea sets and treats. In a large bin against the wall were a bunch of Nerf guns.

"DOBBY!" I exclaimed as I attack-hugged my friend Eric, who until recently I would've classified as 'tall'… then I started spending ridiculous amounts of time with Dalton boys.

He caught me when I flew at him. "Hey Finn! Happy birthday!"

"Go find a seat over there," I ordered, pointing at one of the tables. "But, uh, don't be offended if Evan and Ethan tell you to move."

"Evan and Ethan?" repeated Eric.

I pointed over my shoulder at the two tall boys dressed identically as Tweedledee and Tweedledum. "The ones wearing striped shirts."

That was when Eric actually looked around, taking in the people in the room. Blaine, who had white bunny ears pinned into his hair and was holding a pocket watch, and Kurt, who was wearing only blue, white and black and looked exactly how I'd picture Alice if she was male, and Evan and Ethan were all talking to each other. Wes, who also had bunny ears in his hair, and David, who was wearing a giant green top hat, were sitting at one of the tables eating cookies. Julian, Logan and Derek, all dressed in Wonderland-inspired outfits as well, were each talking to different groups of people. I smirked as I saw the expression of confusion that crossed his face.

"I told you it'd be a Wonderland-themed tea," I reminded him. "And that's not even all the boys."

"Is that so?" he replied. I nodded. Eric walked away towards one of the tables that was already occupied by Julianna, Gracey, Lucy, Cassidy and Sydney. I adjusted the large black bow that was in my hair because the Tweedles had been unable to convince Kurt to wear it.

Once the rest of the non-Daltonite guests arrived, we sat down for tea. At some point, though, the Tweedles had had a few too many of Kurt's magic cookies, and pulled out their Nerf guns and started shooting at people. I pulled a Nerf gun from under my seat and started shooting back. Some of my friends - the non-Coult ones, of course - were staring at us all with looks of intense confusion on their faces. I rolled my eyes and pointed over at the bin of Nerf guns by the wall with my free hand. "Well? What are you waiting for? ARM YOURSELVES!"

It instantly became an even huger Nerf battle than the other day after the Blame the Squid Club field trip.

I ended up hiding behind some random piece of furniture with Bridget and Syaz.

"What the hell is going on?" Bridget asked us.

Syaz just laughed. I tried to explain the boys the best I can. "We love them anyway, though," I finished after explaining some of their more ridiculous eccentricities. "I'd imagine that for someone like you, seeing them in action would be like if someone had walked into the auditorium on the day when I was running around in circles – even if I wasn't running around in circles when they walked in."

"Pretty much," Bridget replied.

"What?" asked Syaz in complete confusion.

I chuckled. "I'll explain later."

Then Syaz grinned evilly. _That can't be good_, I thought. Quietly (but not nearly quietly enough), she said, "Hey, Finn, do you still have that note you wrote the other day when we were in the library with Jules?" My eyes widened and I nodded. Syaz continued, "So are you going to give it to her?"

I tried to reply, but found that my voice wouldn't work. _Ugh, those Blame the Squid Club members are manipulative. I bet they've been planning this since Tuesday._

"What are you talking about?" asked Bridget curiously. "What note? For who?"

I blushed. Syaz did not give me a chance to answer. "She wrote something for you the other day when we were hanging out with Jules. Speaking of Julian, I should go talk to him now," she said before jumping up and running off.

"THAT WAS HORRIBLY MEAN OF YOU AND I BLAME YOU AND THE OTHERS FOR WHATEVER BAD THING HAPPENS," I shouted after her.

"Explain," ordered Bridget.

"SoIsuckattalking andsoIwroteyouthisnote 'causeIfiguredit'dbegoodtowriteitdown soI'dstopthinkingaboutitsomuch sohere'," I said very quickly. I held out a piece of paper that was folded up small. "'Inallhonesty becauseit'lljustruineverything butyouknowwhat Idon'tcareanymore Igiveupithurtstoomuch." She took the piece of folded paper out of my hand and I stood up and ran away.

As I ran away, I passed Logan and my friend Kaitlin. I stopped and ran back to them. "He's gay, Kaitlin," I informed her.

"Oh," she replied. Logan smirked and I ran off again.

I ran straight into Dwight. "What are you running from?" he asked. "Did you see something? I told Miss CP this place was haunted."

"What? No! I just… Those Squid Club girls are going to be in so much trouble when I get to them," I answered.

"Those friends of Julian Larson's? Aren't you one of them?"

"Yeah, I am. But they set me up to be embarrassed and … Oh, I need to borrow a Nerf machine gun from Evan and Ethan once the guests leave."

At the end of the party, Bridget walked up to me. I couldn't look at her. "Look, Master, it's my birthday. Could you just… I dunno, not reject me until Tuesday?"

"I was just going to wish you a happy birthday, Finn," she said. She hugged me and walked out the main doors.

As soon as she was gone, I ran and attack hugged Julian and cried into his shoulder. He put his arms around me comfortingly.

The next evening I got a message from Bridget. It said, "_Some girl from Warblerland named Callie sent me a video of your performance from open mic night a few weeks ago. It's adorable, Finn!"_

_Of course_, I thought. _I'm always adorable, aren't I? Like a little kid… or a kitten._ But I suppose 'The song you sang to me was adorable' is better than 'I'm never speaking to you again, I don't like you like that ew'.

I woke up on Monday the 12th to the Warblers singing Happy Birthday and about 50 texts from people who knew it was my birthday, both in and out of Warblerland.

I think it's safe to say that a Warblerland birthday is the very best kind.

_A/N - So, Master's a really wonderful person and telling her I like her within the story is really all because of my non-Daltonite friends who were in favour of me telling her a few months ago. I figured since I refused point blank to tell her in real life, I'd do it fictionally. I borrowed the way I told her (a note shoved into her hand and then me fleeing) from another thing I wrote ages ago about a pair of my original characters, in case you're wondering._

_I LOVE YOU ALL so if you want to be included in the story, review!_


	7. Fandom Field Trip Day

_A/N - Finnie feels guilty. [I don't know why I said that in the 3rd person, but there you have it.] Chapter 6 went up at the beginning of September, now it's almost Halloween. So I'm really really sorry. _

_This chapter is dedicated to Syaz, whose birthday was last week and I said I would try to get this chapter up for her birthday and I failed horribly._

Fandom Field Trip Day

"I swear it really happened!" I exclaimed. "I still can't walk properly!" I held my foot out. The top of it was mostly purple, with a red mark where the firework had landed.

"What fireworks show were you even _at?_ It's the middle of September!" Briana asked.

"That college nearby was doing a start-of-year thing," I answered, as if it should've been obvious.

* * *

><p>A quick word about our town – Fictionville houses all of the fandoms, divided based on whether they were TV shows or books or whatever. For example, Warblerland is in the "Glee zone" of the TV part of town, which was the exact opposite side of town from the Book Sector. Each fandom also has what is called a "Fandom Field Trip Day" where people from that fandom go visit other fandoms.<p>

For most of the Coult, the day is split in half. We all go off in different directions for the morning, and then in the afternoon we head over to Hogwarts. That's no exaggeration – if Warblerland is huge, Hogwarts is a small planet. It's this enormous castle just outside of the bookish part of town and on the Glee FFTD there are buses that come around after lunchtime to pick us up and bring us there.

I woke up the morning of our field trip and stared at the Gryffindor poster on the wall above me. It was my first Fandom Field Trip since Pottermore had launched me into something of an identity crisis in the form of sorting me into my previously least favourite house. I stood up and walked to my closet. I dug through the clothes on the shelf for my orange Camp Half Blood shirt. Eventually, I found it. On the back it said Cabin 3 in sea green letters.

I abandoned my shoes outside of Cassidy and Lucy's room, which was near the main hall. I ran to Sydney and Katherine's room. Actually, I stopped running about 5 feet from the door, intending to slide across the hardwood floor for the last few feet so I'd come to a stop right in front of the doorway. Alas, I actually slid right past the door and fell flat on the floor. Katherine stuck her head out the door and she immediately started laughing hysterically. I stood up and stuck my tongue out at her. Sydney jumped out from behind Katherine wearing a Camp t-shirt like mine, only on the back hers says Cabin 6 in grey.

"Come on, Finn, the car's waiting!" Sydney declared. Then she noticed my lack of shoes. "Finn, if you're barefoot we can't leave the building…"

I sighed. "They're near Cassidy and Lucy's room. We can get them on the way out."

I slipped into my sneakers, not bothering to tie them, as we walked past the room. Waiting in the car were the others who would be joining us on our trip across town to visit the Percy Jackson fandom. We passed by the bus taking people to Doctor Who (which was already half filled with people) on our way to Klaine Hall, where we were picking up a few more people. We ended up with 8 passengers in a 7 person minivan, and I was squished under the very fictional but surprisingly heavy Lexi Dillon. Her boyfriend, Danny, sat on the floor between the middle seats. Sydney was kicking him the whole ride to Percy Jackson-land.

"Alex! Get off of me!" I said as Argus parked (he'd been the one to pick us up). As soon as the car door had been opened, we spilled out of the van. As I untangled myself from Lexi, who was sprawled on top of me, Danny, Sydney and the others climbed out gracefully and stepped over us.

We were greeted at the door by Mrs. O'Leary the Hellhound. Behind her, Nico di Angelo waited for us. He reluctantly accepted attack hugs from me and Sydney. He's not exactly much of a hugger, you see.

"Come on, guys," he said to us, taking each of us by the hand and leading us toward the Cabins. See, unlike Warblerland or Klaine Hall, the Percy Jackson-verse is kind of like a closed-in version of Camp Half-Blood. You enter through the Big House (even though that's not how you get into camp in the books – the grounds are a little more compressed here) and the characters and fans all live in the cabins. Where fans go is usually based on their personalities, and some of the "cabins" have multiple levels to accommodate their occupants. Nico led us to the Hades cabin, where I knew we'd find an OC of mine.

"Ad-ri-uhhhhh," Nico called into the cabin, stretching out his friend's name and putting emphasis on the last syllable. "The Gleeks are here."

Lexi flew past me and jumped at the dark haired girl who had been lazily lying on a dark couch in the cabin. "!"

"What about me, sis?" a familiar voice asked.

Sydney stuck her head into the cabin. "Percy?"

"Oh, hi Sydney!" he replied, turning his attention away from his two sisters.

Yeah – Percy Jackson has sisters within the fandom. Poseidon Cabin is pretty popular for OCs, much like Gryffindor is within Harry Potter. But the two in the cabin at the time had wandered out of my own brain, and were a little out of the ordinary in the fact that Lexi was, first and foremost, Kurt Hummel's cousin (and only spent time in the Poseidon cabin during crossover stories) and Addi was a goddess who was dating another god from another pantheon.

"Sydney! You're here, too!" Addi observed.

Lexi whacked Addi. "Of course she's here. It's our field trip day!"

I crossed the room, pushed Lexi and Addi over to one side of the couch and sat down. "So," I began, "how've you been, boys?"

A few hours later, we were sitting in the Dining Hall. Sydney was with the Athena table, talking animatedly with campers and fans alike. I was at the Poseidon table, along with Percy, Lexi, Addi, Nico (who had developed a habit of sitting with Addi pretty much every day, either at the Hades table or the Poseidon table) along with about 50 other people. Danny (the OC, not the person – I don't know what fandom she went to) was sitting at the Apollo table.

After lunch, we were picked up by a bus that was going around to all the fandoms slightly less popular with the Gleeks to pick us up and take us to Harry Potter.

Our bus arrived at the castle just as the Doctor Who bus was unloading. I ran and attack hugged Katherine before skipping into the castle. I ran up to Ravenclaw tower (even though I'm a Gryffindor now) to talk to Al, Scorpius and Genna.

"I could've sworn you had written to tell us you were in _Gryffindor_ now," Genna said when she saw me.

I rolled my eyes. "I haven't seen you in person in _weeks_ and that is how you decided to greet me, Roxanne?"

"You expected less of me?"

The boys laughed. I glared at them. They're so frustrating sometimes! "Would you guys mind terribly going along with me to Gryffindor tower? This is going to be a tough transition…"

"Of course we'll walk you to the other tower," Scorpius replied politely.

As we wandered toward the tower, Al pointed out that none of us knew the password.

"There are always a ton of people hanging around the Fat Lady," Genna pointed out. "Someone'll let you in. Then you can talk to dad and Harry and cousin James and my stupid annoying older brother Fred and –"

"I get it, Roxy," I said.

Sure enough, Syaz and her friend Intan were standing near the entrance to Gryffindor tower – although I don't know if they're actually _in_ Gryffindor – talking to the younger James Potter and Fred Weasley. I was about to ask James or Fred what the password was, but then the portrait opened, revealing a 17-year-old Ron Weasley.

"Hi Ron!" I said as I skipped past him through the entrance. He caught me by the arm as I passed.

"You're in Ravenclaw," he said.

"No, I'm not," I informed him, showing him the Gryffindor pin that was pinned to my t-shirt.

That night, I asked Gracey, "So, how was your visit to the Supernatural fandom?"

"It was so great!" Gracey responded. "Dwight went a little crazy, but that's just how he is."

"When we were in Gryffindor tower – oh my gods, I wish you had seen it – Evan, Ethan, Fred and George charmed a bunch of Nerf guns to follow people around," I told her. "It was quite amusing. Although, it was a little annoying after a while…"

Gracey laughed. We stayed up talking for a while, but – and I really hate to admit this – I fell asleep halfway through our conversation.

_A/N - One more apology - this chapter was difficult to include people who had requested after chapter 6 to be included because of the strangeness of this chapter. So with the promise of actually being included this time, review if you're interested in being a part of chapter 8! [Just so you know, Gracey's deciding what's happening in the chapter - I'm posting it as a birthday present to her. Assuming I actually get **anything** written for Story Time & Like Normal Kids that week. It's in the middle of NaNoWriMo and also falls during Tech Week for Hairspray.]_

_I DEEPLY LOVE YOU AND I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER._


	8. Your narrator is a procrastinator

_A/N - This was originally just going to be a Dalton Birthday chapter. But since Writer's Block struck at the most inconvenient time ever and it took a month to write, it became a DB-Holiday hybrid chapter. Sorry. Plus it's short and poorly written... BUT IT'S HERE. I hope you all enjoy it!_

Eight: Your narrator is a procrastinator

**NOVEMBER 29, 2010**

A then-unknown but talented writer posted chapter/episode 1 of a Glee story called "Dalton".

Little did she know, Dalton would end up so popular that its fans would have to move out of Klaine Hall because there were so many of them (it had moved so far beyond just Klaine anyway, really, they needed their own building).

So Warblerland Mansion was built. The rest is Fictionville history.

**NOVEMBER 29, 2011**

-3:07am-

I was happily asleep. Very happily. I was having a lovely dream which, unfortunately, I have forgotten almost entirely. Then I was awoken rather abruptly by someone pulling poor Jerry away from me. When I opened my eyes, I saw a pair of blond boys' heads directly above me.

"We need you to come help set up," said one.

"Guys… it's 3 in the morning," I replied tiredly.

"When else are we going to do it?" said the other one.

A very sleepy looking Reed nudged my foot. "This was your plan, remember?"

I pushed Evan and Ethan off of the bed and grabbed Jerry back from Reed. "But it's _three in the morning._"

"Come on," both twins said. They grabbed my arms and dragged me out of bed.

"Why did you even bother going to sleep?" Reed asked curiously while we walked. I shrugged.

As we walked downstairs to the main hall, I noticed that, like me, the boys were all still in their pajamas. The great hall was half-decorated. I could see over-caffeinated Stuart boys and some of their fangirl friends running around and putting up decorations. I smelled cookies baking in the nearby kitchen. That was where Evan and Ethan led me next.

Kurt pulled a tray of cookies out of the oven. As soon as he put it down, he swatted a pair of identical hands away from the cooling rack and said, "No. THOSE ARE NOT FOR YOU!"

"Just one, Alice?" begged the twins. "We could share!"

"No."

He whacked another hand away. "Reed, these are for Mama CP!"

"There sure are an awful lot for one person," Blaine said sweetly. "Surely she doesn't need _that_ many cookies."

"No, YOU CANNOT HAVE ONE!"

"Relax, Kurt," Julian said calmly, reaching toward one of the extras. Kurt swatted at his hand.

"Aw, come on, Hummel," pleaded Derek.

"No!"

"Please, Alice?" asked Bailey.

"Just one?" added Logan.

Kurt groaned. "Look, guys, I'm baking cookies for the party. You **will get cookies**!" He slapped four more hands away. "BUT NOT NOW!"

"Fine," the others chorused. They walked slowly out of the kitchen in groups of 2 and 3 to help put up decorations. I watched the Stuart Trio get grabbed and dragged away by their friend Cinnamone. Reed, Kurt and I were the last people in the kitchen.

"I s'pose you're going to ask for a cookie, too?" Kurt said tiredly.

I shook my head. "I'm not as impatient as the boys. Well, I am. But I know when a battle is lost."

Kurt tossed me a still-warm cookie. "Good girl."

I nibbled on it. "I'm not a dog, Kurt."

"That's a good plan!" Reed said, then made puppy dog eyes at his friend.

Kurt rolled his eyes and threw a cookie to Reed, too.

Several hours later, Mama CP awoke to the Warblers and as many other Dalton boys could fit in her room shouting "SURPRISE!" and presenting her with thank you for writing Dalton gifts on behalf of everyone in Warblerland.

I was in the room, too, having been in charge of the committee that organized the day's event. I wasn't standing, though. I was sitting on Bailey's shoulders and taking pictures of Mama's reactions to everything.

The entire day was a big party. We sang songs and ate cake and played games and stayed up far too late.

Even I did. (And that doesn't happen very often, even here in a house full of nocturnal Daltonites.)

**DECEMBER 22, 2011**

I should've finished everyone's Christmas presents before the 22nd. I should have. But I didn't.

That's what I get for being a procrastinator. At least I got my out-of-Warblerland friends' presents finished earlier on. A printed copy of a short story about jumping off of buildings was sitting on the table next to a CD of me singing Santa Baby – two presents for non-Dalton readers. Near that was Gracey's half-finished present (which not even documenting the day for this story will get me to disclose until after it's finished).

I was in the Warblerland recording booth, singing Christmas presents for my little group of friends.

_Merry Christmas, Darling_

_We're apart, that's true_

_But I can dream, and in my dreams_

_I'm Christmas-ing with you_

Admittedly, the group of wonderful people I was singing to were actually so close to me that sometimes I go to my other fandoms for some distance from them, but it's the thought that counts. And in my defense, that doesn't happen often.

_Holidays are joyful_

_There's always something new_

_But everyday's a holiday_

_When I'm near to you_

_The lights on my tree_

_I wish you could see_

_I wish it every day_

_The logs on the fire_

_Fill me with desire_

_To see you and to say_

_That I wish you Merry Christmas_

_Happy New Year, too_

_I've just one wish on this Christmas Eve_

_I wish I were with you…_

_I wish I were with you._

So maybe they are close by. Maybe I've told them Happy Christmas about a hundred times already (even the non-Christian ones). Maybe they did help Gracey and I decorate the Christmas tree in our bedroom. Like I said before, it's about the sentiment!

_The logs on the fire_

_Fill me with desire_

_To see you and to say_

_That I wish you Merry Christmas_

_Happy New Year, too_

_I've just one wish on this Christmas Eve_

_I wish I were with you._

I finished up the song and had Grace, who was helping me, stop the recording. I walked out to her and we listened to it together.

"I think that was the best one yet," I said.

"I think so, too," she agreed.

We stayed there until I had finished recording all of my individual presents for people – White Christmas, Let it Snow, and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – and I had gotten a little more of the sewing done on Gracey's present. Then I said good night to Grace and walked up to Gracey's and my room, where Jerry the Teddy Bear and my warm bed awaited me.

_A/N - A few quick things: _

_1- I really did sing Christmas presents this year. And I actually did record Merry Christmas, Darling for you guys - I'm just having some stupid tech problems._

_2- I did a crappy job of including people in this chapter and I apologize. I've been struggling with that as of late. But still send me messages if you're interested in being included and haven't reviewed as of yet._

_3- I'm making a real Jerry the Teddy Bear when I'm in New York in January! [Jerry is fictional right now. The name was suggested by my friend waaaaaaay back when I was writing like chapter 2 of this story because my real teddy, Izzie, is not ideal for being a projectile weapon as Jerry so often is]_

_and finally, 4 - Danny wrote a super adorable super fantastic Christmas Eve at Warblerland story for me for Christmas. You should check it out. It's wonderful. LESS THAN THREE!_


	9. New Year's and reading 27pt1

_A/N - So, uh, the first part of chapter 27 went up today. I cried during play practice._

Nine: New Year's and Reading 27

Fictionville has awesome fireworks shows. And we have fireworks several times a year. Warblerland Mansion is right on the lake, so we went out in boats to watch the New Year's fireworks. It was, as always, an amazing pyrotechnic display.

We stayed out on the water for quite a while. I was in a boat with most of the rest of the Blame the Squid Club, including new recruit Mika. The Stuart Trio were in a smaller rowboat nearby, and we couldn't resist circling them and singing "I See the Light" from Tangled very loudly. I can't honestly tell you all of what happened after that, because I fell asleep at about 3. I was awoken when we reached the dock later, though. It was still pretty dark out, and I woke up to Callie shaking me and telling me that nobody was willing to carry me inside so I really needed to wake up. I groaned and reluctantly got up and walked inside.

We slept in pretty late on the first day of 2012. Actually, while Gracey slept until about noon, I was up at 10 and wandering around the building. I checked in on my friends, but they all seemed to be asleep. I walked to the Characters' Wing and was lucky enough to find that Dwight was awake.

"Hello, Knight," I greeted.

"Hi Finn," he replied. I saw another person approaching behind him. I didn't say anything to him about it, and instead listened to him as he told me his plans for preventing the apocalypse in 2012.

That was when he was attack-hugged from behind by Lisa. He swore loudly. Lisa and I both laughed hysterically as he calmed down. Todd stuck his head out of their room. "Keep it down. It's only 10:30am!"

Frankly, I miss that.

Waking up to the sound of the last slow beats of a heart monitor before the sound of a flatline over the PA system _sucks_. Because when it happened, we all knew what it meant even before we heard Mama CP's voice.

"I know it's been a while since we had a Story Time, but I assume you still know the drill," she said. That got everyone's full attention. "Great Hall at 6:30pm," we were reminded. "Have a nice day at school!"

Gracey and I groaned. I have an amendment to my original statement – waking up to the sounds of a heart monitor over the PA on a _school day_ sucks.

Yes – even in Fictionville, we have to go to school. Which is really un-fun on its own, even without the fact that we were going to spend the day with the idea of Episode 27 hanging over us. Although I suppose it could be worse – I imagine that there are people (far away from this lovely little town) who don't get to go to school with all of their friends and don't get to flail at lunch over fanfiction and don't have all of their fandom friends sitting with them at school and comforting them over a chapter they hadn't even heard yet. Those poor people – I don't know what I'd do without those things.

All day, I saw Daltonites with tissue boxes and stuffed animals wandering the halls. The teachers at the three high schools in Fictionville have kind of learned to go with the flow as far as major events fandom-wise go. I'm fairly certain that they have special fandom tragedy lesson plans, because I personally spent much of the day using crayons to fill in Disney colouring pages.

Once we all returned to Warblerland after school – many of us skipping extra-curricular activities to get home early (we planned to beg for mercy from coaches and directors the following day. They'd understand – like I said, the adults at the schools kind of just go with the flow) – we smelled cookies baking. Gracey and I rushed upstairs to our room to gather our new chapter survival kits. I extracted Jerry from under Gracey's bed – she put him under there after I threw him at her that morning – and adjusted his snazzy new red and white 'I heart NY' sweatshirt. Then I dug my fleecy gold-coloured pajamas out from the back of my drawer. The Great Hall gets chilly in the wintertime.

After dinner but before anyone was actually prepared, everyone had claimed squishy purple sleeping bags in the Hall. I was surrounded by the usual crowd – Gracey, Danny, Darcy, Sydney, Syaz and Katherine – and already squishing Jerry like my life depended on it.

"Alright guys. You've been waiting a long time. Here's the first part of Episode 27," Mama began.

Up until this point, I have rather successfully maintained the ruse that I'm writing this days or weeks after the events of a given chapter. Usually, this is the case. With this chapter, however, I admit that I am writing it just after Story Time and am actually unable to give my usual recap. It's too soon. Needless to say, though, it was distressing. Mama is walking around with comfort, hugs and cookies, as always. I'm fairly certain we just set the record for most people sobbing simultaneously over a work of fanfiction.

If Jerry was a real person, he'd be suffocating. I'm writing by phone-light while curled up in the bottom of my sleeping bag with my poor, projectile weapon of a teddy bear. Shoot, this is getting really hard. Have you ever tried to handwrite while crying? The page is getting all wet and everything's blurry. I might as well quite while I'm ahead.

Oh! I guess I don't have to make an excuse, do I? Mama just reached our group and she has extra cookies for all of us. I'll write more another time, I guess. Maybe when I'm less overwhelmed or when the next part comes out. TTFN, readers – I want my hug.


	10. Schooltime Sobbing and Reading 27pt2

_A/N - This chapter is written kind of funny, so please bear with me. It's meant to be like the whole first bit up to the verb tense change was written when the verb tense change was "now". I'm hoping that it makes some sense... I actually did handwrite it, much like Warblerland Mansion dwelling me did. Although my version is on looseleaf._

Ten: Schooltime Sobbing and Reading 27.2

This morning was not a fun experience. Not that any of us particularly _enjoy_ being awoken at 6:30am to prepare for school on a normal day, but you'd think that on a day like today Mama could write us a collective note requesting that we be admitted late. The schools would probably accept it. Alas, we were actually woken up a bit _earlier_ than usual because everyone had to go up to their rooms before they could get dressed or grab their backpacks. Stupid extra step. It robbed me of 15 minutes of extra sleep!

I found my backpack, put on my coat, picked up Jerry – who I'd dropped on the bed while looking for my backpack (IT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN IN THE CLOSET. WHY WAS MY BACKPACK IN THE FREAKING CLOSET? THAT IS NOT WHERE MY BACKPACK GOES) – and walked to the bus that awaited us outside.

I can't honestly say I paid much attention this morning. Jerry sat in my lap during class and I coloured in Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet.

During 3rd period (my free period/study hall), I sat in the back of the library with Syaz and tried to keep her from crying too much. I failed miserably. We ended up just sitting there, clinging to each other (and our teddy bears) and sobbing until the bell rang.

In an effort to keep our emotions under control, Sydney and I sat with people from the PJO fandom at lunch. We ended up in the middle of a bit Percabeth vs Percico vs Thalico debate, so I was pretty happy. I like a good argument.

I almost collided with Maria, another Daltonite with whom I often flail over NCIS, in the hallway before my 7th period Brit Lit class. I'm a little … distracted, you might say. I barely paid attention to the discussion on tomorrow's sonnet project – I wrote mine last weekend anyway – and just played with the hood of Jerry's "I heart NY" sweatshirt instead.

Now I'm in math class. We have a substitute teacher and I'm incredibly bored. Nobody really understands the work and the sub doesn't understand why 3 people in the class have teddy bears or other stuffed animals or why another two have boxes of tissues.

We think she's new in town.

After math, I run to my locker to put away anything I won't pretend to need for the night. I meet Gracey by the front door. We're missing rehearsal again, but the director will understand. She's used to this by now. We get on the bus with a bunch of other Daltonites. I continue squishing Jerry like I have been all day. When we walk in the door to Warblerland Mansion, we smell cookies baking again. Gracey, who is slightly less distressed by all of this than I am, pats me on the head and walks up to our room. I have a Jules-free Blame the Squid Club meeting to attend. As I walk to the Library, today's meeting place, I overhear Carley and Cassidy worrying about Reed and expressing frustration over their canceled plans with him.

Oh, did I mention? The characters are all confined to their wing again.

The Blame the Squid Club spends the rest of the afternoon fretting over our dear Julian. Normal our meetings are at least semi-coherent (more than that if Jules is actually around). Today, more than half of the "conversation" is just babbling.

I have actually spent most of today not speaking – just listening to what was going on around me. Other than at lunch – during which Sydney and I fiercely defended Percico – I've mostly only talked to Jerry. Now I know that sounds odd (I mean… he's a teddy bear…) but I always talk to him! He's not just _any_ teddy bear – he's _my_ teddy bear! Don't judge me.

Anyway, there's two reasons for my silence. The first is worry – living in Fictionville means that the characters are not just characters for us. They are our friends. They're _real_. We see them every day. The idea of losing one of them… I can't think about it. The other reason is the fire. The idea of it is terrifying to me. Big building fires like that – especially one in which people I've grown fond of/attached to are trapped – are literally the stuff of my nightmares.

"Guys, I think it's almost dinnertime," I say, speaking to a person for the first time in hours.

"Right," Julia responds.

In the dining hall, I sit between Danny and Katherine. I don't really feel like eating much, but I nibble at my sandwich anyway.

Not long after that, we return to our squishy sleeping bags in the Great Hall and Mama begins to tell us what happened next.

* * *

><p>I'll do my best to do a reaction recap this time.<p>

Basically the whole time, I sobbed.

When Evan was insisting that Ethan should jump, and then later when he did and Ethan was signing to Audee, I clung to Gracey and sobbed even harder.

By the time Dwight was on his own and heard Alan (again), I was crying so hard I couldn't even make a sound anymore.

And Julian… Well, I suppose you're lucky you're reading a typed version of this, because at this point the tears have made the page nearly illegible.

As I write, I feel a hand on my shoulder. I look up to see Mama CP. "What are you writing?" she asks me.

I show her the cover of the composition book, which says _The Story Time Chronicles_. "I'm writing about life in Warblerland Mansion. It's how I deal with chapters like this one."

"Clever," Mama replies. "Does that mean you don't want your hug and extra cookie tonight?"

"Definitely not! How could you suggest that, Mommy CP?" I answer. She smiles and hugs me. "Thanks, Mama." Then she hands me another cookie (I already have two sitting on a napkin) and continues her trip around the room.

I curl up with Jerry inside my sleeping bag, thinking, _I'll write some more tomorrow._

_A/N - I really hope you liked it and the switchyness wasn't too confusing. Fun fact: I actually do have a teddy bear named Jerry. I made him at Build-a-Bear when I was in New York. I was with Sydney (THIS Sydney) and it was really really great! I hope my Jerry related anecdote lightened your Dalton-depressed moods._


	11. An Anniversary and A Party

_A/N- Hello, dears! So as we all know, there hasn't yet been cause for another 'story time' chapter. But that doesn't mean that there shouldn't be another Story Time chapter! Tehe. I realized that with all of the stress and worry we feel for the boys, we could use a bit of a lift from a lighthearted chapter. And since Valentine's Day was yesterday, the second half is a Valentine's party! I started writing the first part the day after I posted Chapter 10, but in all honesty most of it was written in the last two days._

Eleven: An Anniversary and A Party

_January 25__th__ 2012_

You're probably growing bored with hearing about school in Fictionville. Well, I'm growing tired of _attending_ school in Fictionville. I'm sorry, but I really don't have much else to tell you about.

I guess you could say today's mildly interesting. And my interesting, I mean basically "as not-sad as I can make it". See, I had made plans with a pre-Fictionville friend a few weeks ago for today (before Mama told us E27 was this week, obviously) and I will not cancel! He's visiting from out of town, and obviously I don't want to inconvenience him by rescheduling. We're meeting at the Lima Bean after school.

Right now, though, I'm stuck in class. It's hard to be excited about classwork on a day like today, though.

I promised Jerry, my best inanimate friend, that I'd convey this (brace yourselves, I'm in tangent-land): apparently no matter how much we squish our stuffed animals, it will not affect the outcome of E27.

And now back from tangent-land, I'm squishing Jerry anyway. Only right now, it's not Dalton-related teddy squishing. I'm trying not to burst out laughing, because there is this one girl in this class who keeps trying to make connections to My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I mean, **everything** comes back to MLP for her. We're in _physics class_. I know some people feel strongly about their fandoms, but… really?

After school, I meet my friend at the Lima Bean.

"Hi Michael!" I say, sitting down across from him.

"Hey Glob," he replies. I smirk – I've always loved that nickname. "This town is really weird. When we were driving here, we passed a school and the school day was ending. Based on the ages of the kids outside, I think it was a high school, but there was a whole bunch of people with stuffed animals and blankies."

I laugh and set Jerry on the table. "Hey, watch what you say about the kids with stuffed animals. They're my friends!"

"Were you guys watching a movie today or something?" he asks.

"Or something," I say, nodding. "The fandom's having a bit of a crisis."

I can tell from his expression that he doesn't get it, but he's going to have to live with that explanation. Non-Fictionville people are weirder than _we_ are.

Michael and I spend the afternoon together, talking, laughing and sharing stories. I introduce him to a couple of Daltonites we run into while were out (and I think Jenna, Jamie, Jade and Kaelyn are spying on us).

"Girls! C'mere!" I call. The twins drop out of a nearby tree. Jade crawls into view from behind a bush. Kaelyn abruptly stops talking to the random guy she'd been conversing with. All four of them run over to Michael and I and stop a few feet away.

"Hello," Michael says politely. "Are these more 'fandom' people?"

"Sort of, I suppose," I answer. "These are characters from a Dalton-based story I wrote over a year ago."

"So they're… not real?" Michael asks.

Kaelyn gasps. Jade puts her hands over her ears. The twins say, "LIES AND SLANDER!" (in unison, as they so often speak).

"Here, they are. That's the great thing about this town. You put a pen to paper or open a word document and any characters you create are more than likely to just waltz through the door," I respond. "Sometimes literally," I add, nodding to Jenna and Jamie.

"That's weird, Glob," Michael tells me.

"I know," I say. "Now shoo, girls. Go home or something."

"We're so bored at home," Jamie whines.

"With Evan and Ethan confined to the characters' wing," adds Jenna.

"Miss CP won't even let _us_ in to see the boys," Jade complains.

"We have **nothing** to do!" finishes Kaelyn.

"I repeat: do nothing somewhere else!" I order. The girls scurry away.

"So," I say when they're gone, "when are you getting picked up?"

"Six," he declares.

"Great!" I reply. I check his watch. "We've got 45 minutes. Do you want to see Warblerland Mansion? I'm pretty sure there are cookies there."

"Why not?" Michael says. We walk to Warblerland together. It's just a few blocks away from the park. We had been wandering around. When we reach the large building, Michael freezes.

"It's pretty impressive, isn't it?" I say. Michael nods. I grab his hand and drag him inside. I've been carrying my backpack around all afternoon, so I lead him upstairs to Gracey's and my room and dropped my backpack on my bed. "I'd give you a tour, but we don't really have time."

"Glob, this place is _huge_," he tells me.

I laugh and nod. "C'mon, let's go to the kitchen. That's where the cookies are."

Half an hour later, we stand outside the main doors to Warblerland. Michael is eating a chocolate chip cookie and we're waiting for his ride to show up.

A minivan pulls up behind the Chustin Tank.

"It was great to see you, Glob," Michael says, hugging me.

"Let's make sure you actually go to the Halloween in March party, then." I respond.

"'course I'm going!" Michael replies.

I laugh. "You always say that."

"Well, I've got to go," he says.

"'Bye, Michael!" I say. I kiss him on the cheek. "Happy anniversary, idiot."

"Happy anniversary, Glob," says Michael. He hugs me again and walks away.

_February 14__th__ 2012_

Even though we haven't had a story time in over two weeks, everyone has still been sleeping in sleeping bags in the great hall since Mama started reading us chapter 27.

Today, though, we've been asked to put our things up in our rooms. We're having a party there tonight, you see. Mama thought we needed to do something positive, so some of us decided to throw a great big Valentine's Day party.

But that's hours away.

Right now, I'm not paying attention in class. Instead, I'm talking to my friends at the other schools on the internet. Where is my partner in crime, you might ask? Gracey's home sick today. So I'm _extra_ bored.

I should try to focus on something more positive. Like the party!

We got up extra early (well, those of us who went to sleep at a reasonable time) to have a planning meeting in the library. We had a blueprint of the great hall out on the table and decided exactly where all the decorations will go.

I know that when I get home, some people will already be decorating. As soon as I get there, I'm supposed to go to the kitchen and start frosting baked goods with Lisa.

In reality, I check in on Gracey first (she's a-okay) and _then_ make my way downstairs. There's a tray of cupcakes awaiting me. I grab a tub of pink frosting and the jar of sprinkles and start decorating.

A little bit before 7, we finish our task and go upstairs to change. When I reach the bedroom that I share with Gracey, I immediately start digging through my dresser for something holiday-appropriate (and _not_ covered in pink frosting). In the end, I settle on a light pink shirt with a darker pink skirt and white knee socks with hearts on them so I can slide around. Then I go back downstairs for the party, alternating between running and sliding (and also falling).

Overall, the party is a success. We dance, sing eat, enjoy each other's company, and for a little while, we forget our worry and stress over the boys.

I know all of those feelings will come back tomorrow, but for tonight I'm just going to enjoy the party. Happy Valentine's Day, loves!

_A/N - Fun fact: Michael's a real guy, and January 25th is our actual anniversary. "Glob" is short for "Finglob" which he came up with when we were 12._

_In real life, we texted each other and joked about how irked I was with him that day last year. Not that you guys really care, I just thought it'd be a mildly interesting fact to share._

_Hope you had a nice Valentine's Day, dearies! At this point, I'm sure you know the drill. Review (if you haven't already) if you want to be in the story. :) [I admit I've done a pretty lousy job of including people in the last few chapters... in my defense, it's harder to remember who I'd been planning to include when I'm handwriting the chapters during school. I really am going to work hard to be better about that]._


	12. Reading 27pt3 and 27pt4

_A/N - Hey, loves. How're you holding up? I meant to get this up last night, but I got kicked off the computer halfway through typing the chapter._

Twelve: Reading 27.3 & 23.4

In all honesty, I don't know why I'm writing this now.

Maybe writing this is a coping mechanism of some sort.

Maybe I'm just trying to isolate myself from the others, because talking to them would distress me further.

Either way, here I am – squishing Jerry, nibbling a cookie, and working on Story Time.

This morning started out like so many others – I threw Jerry at Gracey.

That was about where the day's normalness ended. Mama's familiar voice over the PA while I was getting ready for school sent me running back to my dresser to find something to wear.

**The funeral would be tonight, after all.**

I put Jerry in my backpack and zipped it so his head stuck out. Gracey and I met Sydney, Syaz and Katherine at the bus. We all wore similar expressions of worry and distress. I adopted my 'I'm not in the mood to talk today' attitude again.

At school, I ran into my friend Rachel. She's a freshman from the Hunger Games fandom. Before first period, she and I talked about Percy Jackson with Sydney (yippee!). It was nice – a break from the constantly overwhelmed, worried, stressed, emotional, and flail-ey atmosphere of Warblerland Mansion.

[Tangent-land Alert!] Have I mentioned? Some new boys arrived in Warblerland recently. And since they're not involved in E27, they've been allowed to wreak their own kind of havoc. Sebastian Smythe has been the cause of most of the chaos (telling us those Paris stories was either _ridiculously_ stupid or absolutely brilliant on his part. Everyone's gone crazy because of them). We've taken to putting him in a human-sized puppy crate during homework time so that people don't get too distracted (although two friends of mine broke him out two days ago and we didn't see him for nine hours). [End Tangent]

At lunch, I again didn't sit with a group of Dalton people. Well, I sort of did, but we didn't discuss Dalton. I sat with Sydney, Maria, Rachel and Lisa. We talked about NCIS and Percy Jackson and School and as much not-Dalton as possible.

But pretending the next part of the chapter wasn't fast approaching didn't mean it wasn't.

After school, Gracey and I abandoned our backpacks in our room. We wandered around the mansion all afternoon. Twice I nearly collided with other equally distracted people in the halls. Once, I actually crashed.

"Sorry, Beth!" I said immediately.

"No, it was my fault," she replied.

"It was definitely mine," I insisted.

"Okay, who was that again?" Gracey asked when Beth walked away.

I rolled my eyes. "Her name's Beth. She's one of Wes's friends. You've lived here over a year, I _know_ you've met her! Probably the same time I did!" I responded. Gracey laughed.

I carried Jerry around with me all afternoon. I also dragged around a blue-green blankie. I probably looked like a 5'3" toddler. Frankly, I don't really care.

Mama told us that tonight's update would be in two parts with a short intermission in the middle.

All I can really say about 27.3 is that there were a _lot_ of tears.

After that, we got cookies and a 15 minute break.

Following intermission was part four. During the funeral, there were more tears. Some people sobbed loudly. Some (like me) cried quietly, hugging their stuffed animals tight.

Now here I am, writing a ridiculously short chapter for a silly little story about a bunch of fangirls.

Everyone now has another cookie. Anyone who wanted it has hot chocolate. And I – oh shoot, no! – okay, ow. I just burned myself spilling hot chocolate ALL OVER MY LEG. Anyway, some people I befriended relatively recently are sitting nearby. All of my older Dalton friends are sitting together in a little bubble (which I am right in the middle of with Syaz and our teddy bears).

Mama is, as usual, wandering the room and giving hugs.

I am, as always, squishing Jerry.

Mama taps me on the shoulder. "What's that?"

I hold up my notebook. "Coping mechanism."

She puts her arms around me. I hug her back tightly. Jerry gets squished between us, which makes me giggle. Mama smiles and moves on to comfort Syaz.

Yeah. Writing this silly little journal is _definitely_ a coping mechanism.

_A/N - So this is really really short. But that's all I could handle when I wrote it yesterday. Maybe I'll do better for the last part? *laughs* Just kidding, we all know I'll remain a wreck until the end of the chapter.  
><em>_I love you all, I hope you're doing alright after that update. I just want to attack-hug you all, but alas we're all so far apart. _

_Hope you liked the chapter, loves! I'd ask you to review if you want to be a part of the story, but the odds are against you getting this far in the story and not having done that. Tehe!_


	13. The InBetween

_a/n So I haven't updated this story in a million years. Also this chapter makes very **very** little sense. Sorry about that, loves._

Thirteen: The In-Between

It's been a while since I worked on this.

There's a reason for that.

And for once it doesn't have to do with losing a notebook or schoolwork or anything like that.

You see, my friend, I was kidnapped. Oh, don't worry, I'm safe and home back in Warblerland Mansion now. But a couple weeks ago, my OCs banded together in the dead of night and took me from my room. Somehow they managed not to wake Gracey.

They brought me to a house in the suburbs that I honestly didn't know they had and kept me there for a while.

I think I needed the break.

I did a lot of writing for my other fandoms and my original projects. Actually mostly for my other fandoms – Adventures in Novel Writing stayed on the shelf in my closet when Jenna and Jamie grabbed me. Also, I watched six seasons of Doctor Who.

Terra (the protagonist of AiNW) and Alex (she's new and a _complete_ mystery to me) told me that they had decided to be penpals.

All of the next generation Dalton characters I write about (the eldest of whom are five years old and the youngest is barely one) were wandering about the house as well. Fred and George Brightman always had someone (or rather, a pair of someones) chasing after them or they'd get into quite a bit of trouble. Freddie's little sister Audrey, being one of the babies of the group, got into no such trouble. At least… not yet. Darren Larson-Wright and Emmie "Raney" Anderson usually sat in the corner on their little blanket with their stuffed animals and babbled together in half-English-half-baby talk.

Okay I'm going to stop talking about my captivity now. Frankly the whole thing was kind of weird and Tell and Andy (that's Terra and Alex to everyone but them and me) refuse to tell me why they did it.

On to the relevant content!

Everyone finds their own way to cope between chapters here at Warblerland.

I mean, life goes on as usual, but there are some things that happen that make me kind of step back and go, "Wait a minute… _what the hell just happened_?"

Actually, that's just life here.

But there are some days when that's a more common occurrence than on others.

And those days are far more common in chapter breaks like the current one than previous ones.

It doesn't help that we're on Spring Break.

Moving on to something a little more narrative-ey:

The other day, I decided to go visit the Character Wing. Gracey was off on a visit to Klaine hall, and I was _bored_.

I said hi to Oliver in the hallway and continued wandering.

Syaz and Raven were talking. I elected not to interrupt them with a greeting and merely waved as I walked past. They didn't notice me.

I ended up jumping on Reed's bed and getting yelled at by Kurt for bouncing on the furniture.

"So anyway, I was walking from backstage left to downstage right and then the student director told me that I was actually supposed to be going upstage and I turned around and this tree appeared out of the blue and I walked right into it!" I told Reed.

Reed smiled sympathetically. "Hey, Kurt, are there any cookies left in the stash?"

"Yeah," Kurt said. "I just added some more today."

"Finn, close your eyes – the location of this tray of cookies is a well-kept secret," Reed told me.

The next thing I knew, a chocolate chip cookie had been thrown at me. "Thanks, boys."

"Any time," they responded in unison. I grinned.

"Hey, so you know how I write that rather uninteresting journal that's in the Library as 'the Story Time chronicles'?" I began. "I've decided that even though we haven't had a story time in a while, I ought to add to it. I mean, I haven't written anything for it in like two months."

"Well, you could write about how everyone's doing midway between chapters," suggested Reed.

"That's an awesome idea!" I exclaimed. I kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks, Reed!"

So that is exactly what I set out to do.

Sydney told me she's been flailing a _lot_ and trying her hardest to keep talk of Supernatural to a minimum, lest she start fretting over Dwight again.

Payton informed me that she's spent a lot of time reading fanfiction in the library and unintentionally coming up with "worst case scenarios" for how everything might work out.

I was on my way to interview more Daltonites when Mommy told us something _big._

A theory about one John Logan Wright III.

That he may possibly have been substituting…

She told us this just after sending the Dalton students back into lockdown.

I suppose it's for the best that Logan's stuck in the Characters' Wing right now.

The Gondola is in complete uproar because it's starting to look suspiciously like _Jogan is going to become canon._

And Mommy just asked not too long ago what our reactions would be if it **becomes** canon without warning.

I think she broke a lot of people's brains today.

Including mine, to some degree.

These last few weeks have been all over the place for the residents of Warblerland. Especially me.

Hopefully we'll have another story time soon. I want to know what's going to happen with Jules and Logan!

Meanwhile, I'll be off to start secretly planning a Jogan-is-canon party with the rest of the Blame the Squid Club.

_a/n - Fun fact: The thing with Reed from the middle is actually sort of a thing that happened! I was talking to Mommy and Reed earlier this week and Reed suggested that I make it about how people are handling everything midway between chapters. I was asking people and then THAT happened. The Logan thing. Then I stopped being able to write coherently. _

_So there you go, my loves. I hope it didn't disappoint you too much. _


	14. Farewell

My dear readers – my dear _friends,_

It's been a while since I last put pen to page in this notebook. It's been months since I even considered it.

Here's why: I have spent so much time these last few months _living_ this that I hardly had time or motivation to document it. My last year of high school has thus far been hectic, and I'm told it only gets crazier from here.

(Auditions for the show Gracey and I wrote with our outside friend, Sarah, are on Monday. I'm both terrified and excited, and that's just one more level of crazy in my life.)

So I'm closing this notebook for good. The Story Time Chronicles are through.

Oh, Fictionville is still here. Miss Becks still runs our incredible library, Miss George still occasionally sits everyone down to talk about Sperrill (and Wilcroft, much to Justin and Sydney's dismay), the Characters still run amuck, and Mama still tells stories. This is just the end of my rambling account of what's going on.

I part with this: thank you so, so much.

You have made these last two years (_two years, guys!)_ such a marvellous experience. I have made so many friends, and I don't know what I'd do without you.

Arguably one of the best decisions I have ever made was picking up Mama CP's "little" story a very long time ago and starting to read.

That decision is followed immediately in my book of good decisions by the decision to write this story.

Thank you all again for making this adventure worthwhile.

(Also: Thanks for sticking around through the crazy.)

Love,

Finn


End file.
